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GeoCoder®

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GeoCoder®

Geocoding is the process of converting addresses into geocodes (latitude and longitude coordinates), which you can use to place markers on a map, or position the map. Melissa’s GeoCoder provides precise rooftop geocodes for 95% of all physical addresses in the U.S. as well as 40 countries around the world. Our unique address parsing and matching algorithms help GeoCoder fix spelling errors and complete addresses that have missing or invalid components to provide more precise results. In addition to rooftop (highly precise) geocoding, we have other levels of accuracy to meet every need and budget.

Try It

Take GeoCoder for a test drive and see get address data that works for you. Melissa converts addresses and zip codes into coordinates at the Rooftop, ZIP+4, and ZIP level.

Enter an Address or ZIP Code

How It Works

Melissa provides three levels of geocoding accuracy so you can select the right one for your project and budgetary needs: Rooftop, ZIP+4 and ZIP.

Rooftop Level Geocoding

Rooftop Level Geocoding translates addresses into latitude and longitude coordinates to know exactly where they are, on a map, in a neighborhood. As the highest level of geocoding available, the accuracy literally comes down to your customer’s front door. The ideal solution for insurance and tax jurisdictions, risk exposure analysis, and delivery routing, Rooftop Level Geocoding is the most precise you can get.

So, how do we do it? Accurate geocoding algorithms are the key to location intelligence. Because address databases are often filled with errors, typos, and inconsistencies, it’s sometimes difficult to match stored data with actual coordinates. Melissa combs through 195 million individual addresses and utilizes precise mathematical location algorithms and street shape maps to select the best recorded point. GeoCoder incorporates data from multiple sources, including spatial data, navigational data, and census data. All sources are evaluated and intelligently merged to produce the most precise coordinates possible.

If an 11-digit rooftop geocode is not available, Melissa’s GeoCoder will “cascade” down to the next level of geocoding, which is to the 9-digit level of an address. If there is no 9-digit data provided to calculate the address-level coordinates, the process will geocode to the 7 or 5-digit ZIP Code centroid. Cascade geocoding gives the most precise geographic placement of a postal address available to date, and fills in other less-accurate ZIP data.

ZIP+4® Geocoding

The next level of accuracy is to the ZIP+4 – which includes an area of about 10-20 households. Even though ZIP+4 geocoding validates the address data with slightly less accuracy than the rooftop level, you can still easily spot demographic and segmentation patterns to target your customers more effectively and power store locators for your business.

ZIP Code™ Geocoding

The broadest range of geocoding is ZIP Code level, which can show you the geographical area and city boundaries. ZIP Codes at this level are mainly used for USPS® sorting, but it can also help you see the general area where your customers are located to plan local or geographic-based marketing campaigns. With ZIP Code level geocoding, you’ll see coordinates usually within a few miles.

International Geocoding

Melissa offers accurate address geocoding for over 40 countries worldwide. The output points can be visualized on a map, inserted as stops for a route, or loaded as input for spatial analysis. Because addresses around the word are not all the same, the best way to ensure you’re getting reliable geocodes is to utilize Melissa address verification at the same time to ensure your data is accurate and the addresses are real.

What Our Customers Say

"Melissa's technology works seamlessly with SQL Server Integration Services, and provides another way for my clients to achieve highest data quality information. Customer service was excellent, and their technical team provides top support for people wanting to use the technology."

"Melissa easily integrates into both our system and our vendor's systems. They offer a variety of cleansing solutions. Setting up our contract has been easy.
We are cleansing our data so that we do not mail invalid records. We've saved hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and decreased cost per acquisition."

"Provides a robust variety of services, paired with a great wiki documentation site that details all of their products/services. Sales/support are also very helpful. It was very easy to roll out and with the thorough documentation we had minimal issues configuring our network to permit the appropriate data through."

"The advanced features of the Address Object API allows us to greatly reduce our "undeliverable" loses and improve our next-day delivery customer experience. In my experience Melissa has done a fantastic job in advancing their products and services. We have been move then pleased by their performance and pricing for their products."

"The API was easy for my developers to integrate into the applications we use. The documentation was excellent and the customer support equivalent. Data integrity is also another key component and makes verifying addresses simple and accurate."

"The Api is easy to work with and the account rep folks are very response especially Riff. I've never had my service shut down even when we are over our allotted validations. The team works with us to ensure constant availability. If you need address validation with an easy to use product, Melissa is your friend."